General Information

     

• 3 levels of drill gauge. Gauge increases upon using D attacks and decreases over time. Drill attacks last longer and do more damage with higher level. A drill stays active for a maximum of 16 frames. Drill meter builds on whiffed D attacks solely when you have level 3.
• Drill can overheat if charged for too long. When overheated, D moves and D specials cannot be used for around 2-3 seconds. After the overheat, you will return to level 1.
• Each attack will deal more hits if button is held down, with each hit contributing to the drill gauge. Can stop holding moves at any time by releasing the button.
• Level 3 D moves do a very high amount of chip damage on block. They also have increased frame advantage
• On hit, they'll do significantly more damage due to increase of both damage and proration.
• On drill level 3, your gauge will actually raise faster making it easier to maintain it as well as overheating it.
• As of Extend, all drills can be special canceled on block! This is for useful for for pressure when combined with Zettou and Hariken.
• Overdrive: Drill gauge is fixed at level 3 and rapidly builds up to it if lower. Note that you can still overheat if you push the drill too much, but that should be pretty hard since it'll try to maintain your drill at level 3 the whole time.

• Hariken (236D)-
  Drill charge stance. Pressing A/B/C will summon a drill a set distance away from Amane (A being closest and C being farthest). Pressing D cancels the stance. Summoning a drill now has a hit of its own, allowing it to combo the opponent in air juggles. Summoned drills will last longer on higher drill levels. Drills can be hit to be nullified as they have a hurtbox. Any summoned drill will maintain the drill level from going down during active frames. Maximum active frames of 15 despite active time.
• Gekiren (623C)-
  Summons cloth fist from underground. On hit it grabs the opponent and slams them to the ground. It's an unblockable strike that only hits airborne opponent. Will come out at a fixed distance from Amane unless used in the corner. Will be on screen next to the corner if the fixed distance would be off screen.
• Raibu (236C)-
  A charging attack. Multi-hitting and with great knockback. Causes wallstick on corner hit. Unsafe on block so should be used in combos or to end them.
• Gosei (j236C)-
  Air charging attack, like Raibu. Amane first goes diagonally downward then continues with one more hit on the ground. On last hit, Amane will autocorrect to face the opponent of ot applies. Unsafe on block at -7, but with 50 meter, you can make it safe or convert into a combo by using a Rapid Cancel into 2C.
• Zettou (214A/B and 236A/B)-
  Command IAD-like hop move. The hop changes depending on the button used, A version is a smaller hop while B goes slightly higher and further. 236X hops forward while 214X hops backward. Can followup with normals after a little cooldown. You cannot cancel into anything besides movement and blocking options before a certain time. On ground Zettou, this is about 14-16 frames depending on the version. On air Zettou, this is 7 frames. Excellent pressure tool and useful in combos.
• Seijuu (236236D)-
  Charging super. Damage is inflicted after the dash is complete on hit and is based on drill level. Has invuln and Amane will be a medium distance behind the opponent after the move has completed. Can followup into a combo with level 2 or 3 drill meter. Level 2 followup is 3C, level 3 is 6C. This super will cause overheat on hit of your drill level unless it's rapid canceled correctly.
• Goukai (632146D)-
  Super that summons many drills that travel across the screen. No invuln frames. Pushes the opponent to the edge of the screen. Causes drill overheat. This super does really good damage even on level 1 and can be used to make combos burstsafe. You can increase damage by using Rapid cancel and by using Zettou into forward airdashes. That way the opponent eats more drills.

• Ground throw causes wall stick in the corner. Can be special canceled. Very versatile combo routes offered afterwards with good damage.
• Amane uses his scarf as a bow and himself as an arrow for his air throw. Followup will vary depending on the height at which you throw. Basic one should be 6A jump canceled into air combo.
• Taunt- Amane takes out a fan and fans himself.
• Counter Assault uses 5B animation.

• 222D
• Amane
• Azrael
• Platinum
• Bang
• Tsubaki
• Bullet
• Tager
• Arakune
• Rachel
• Taokaka
• Litchi
• Carl
• Makoto
• Relius
• Jin
• Noel
• Ragna
• Hakumen
• Valkenhayn
• Hazama
• Nu-13
• Mu-12

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General Information

• 3 levels of drill gauge. Gauge increases upon using D attacks and decreases over time. Drill attacks last longer and do more damage with higher level. A drill stays active for a maximum of 16 frames. Drill meter builds on whiffed D attacks solely when you have level 3.
  
• Drill can overheat if charged for too long. When overheated, D moves and D specials cannot be used for around 2-3 seconds. After the overheat, you will return to level 1.
  
• Each attack will deal more hits if button is held down, with each hit contributing to the drill gauge. Can stop holding moves at any time by releasing the button.
  
• Level 3 D moves do a very high amount of chip damage on block. They also have increased frame advantage
  
• On hit, they'll do significantly more damage due to increase of both damage and proration.
  
• On drill level 3, your gauge will actually raise faster making it easier to maintain it as well as overheating it.
  
• All drills cannot cancel into specials on block.
  
• Overdrive: Drill gauge is fixed at level 3 and rapidly builds up to it if lower. Note that you can still overheat if you push the drill too much, but that should be pretty hard since it'll try to maintain your drill at level 3 the whole time.
  
  
  Drive Moves

  
  

  • 5D- Lunges forward with drill arm. Long startup and existing hurtbox makes it risky to use it as a poke.
    
  • 2D- Thrusts drill upward. Can be used as anti-air, but the head invulnerability comes pretty late making it less reliable. Works great during combo.
    
  • 6D- Drill dropped from above about 3-4 characters away. Isn't an overhead. Easiest way to charge drill meter. Can be held indefinitely until overheat.
    
  • j.D- Downwards drill leg attack. Least damaging drill in Amane's drive attacks. Good pressure tool at level 1, fastest startup of all drill moves.
    
  • j.6D- Horizontal drill arm attack. Similar to 5D. Most damaging drive normal and should solely be used as a combo tool
    
    

Hariken (236D)-

Drill charge stance. Pressing A/B/C will summon a drill a set distance away from Amane (A being closest and C being farthest). Pressing D cancels the stance. Summoned drills will last 1.5/2/4 seconds depending on current drill level. Drills can be hit to be nullified as they have a hurtbox. Any summoned drill will maintain the drill level from going down during active frames. Maximum active frames of 15 despite active time.
Gekiren (623C)-
Summons cloth fist from underground. On hit it grabs the opponent and slams them to the ground. It's an unblockable strike that only hits airborne opponent. Will come out at a fixed distance from Amane unless used in the corner. Will be on screen next to the corner if the fixed distance would be off screen.
Raibu (236C)-
A charging attack. Multi-hitting and with great knockback. Causes wallstick on corner hit. Unsafe on block so should be used in combos or to end them.
Gosei (j236C)-
Air charging attack, like Raibu. Amane first goes diagonally downward then continues with one more hit on the ground. On last hit, Amane will autocorrect to face the opponent of ot applies. Unsafe on block at -7, but with 50 meter, you can make it safe or convert into a combo by using a Rapid Cancel into 2C.
Zettou (214A/B and 236A/B)-
Command IAD-like hop move. The hop changes depending on the button used, A version is a smaller hop while B goes slightly higher and further. 236X hops forward while 214X hops backward. Can followup with normals after a little cooldown. You cannot cancel into anything besides movement and blocking options before a certain time. On ground Zettou, this is about 14-16 frames depending on the version. On air Zettou, this is 7 frames. Excellent pressure tool and useful in combos.
Seijuu (632146C)-
Charging super. Damage is inflicted after the dash is complete on hit and is based on drill level. Has invuln and Amane will be a medium distance behind the opponent after the move has completed. Can followup into a combo with level 2 or 3 drill meter. Level 2 followup is 3C, level 3 is 6C. This super will cause overheat on hit of your drill level unless it's rapid canceled correctly.
Goukai (632146D)-
Super that summons many drills that travel across the screen. No invuln frames. Pushes the opponent to the edge of the screen. Causes drill overheat. This super does really good damage even on level 1 and can be used to make combos burstsafe. You can increase damage by using Rapid cancel and by using Zettou into forward airdashes. That way the opponent eats more drills.

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1. Overview

2. Stagger pressure

• If you want generate blockstun and stay close, 3C is really good at that. It doesn't have much frame advantage (-6), but it generates the most hitstun (18 frames) along with 5D . The only difference is that 3C is special cancelable on block. Meaning you can do empty hariken cancels or zettou if you want. If you were to hit, you'd have 2 outcomes,
  
  • a counter hit will lead to a full combo with plenty of time to hit confirm
    
  • or a hariken drill (not sure if guaranteed, but players tend to go for it a lot. Spacing dependent most likely)
    
  • You can always go into Raibu or spend ressources to convert into decent damage as this is a good starter.
    
    
    
  • If you want to increase the distance in between you and your opponent, 5B and 2B really have a lot of pushback. 5B generates nearly as much blockstun as 3C (16 frames). This opens up a few possibilities
    
    • Can be used to gatling into 2C at the correct distance. This leaves 5 frames (if canceled on first active frame) where your opponent won't be locked on the ground, but you're already far away for most reversals/normals to hit you. This will bring the opponent back in due to 2C's vacuum effect. If they barrier during pressure or at this point, you'll have the perfect spacing for this gatling. Also, if they do barrier 5B, they might not be able to jump out of the 2C due to jump startup.
      
    • Go into 3C as this is a true blockstring (unless instant blocked) or would end up being a really tight frame trap if you delay 3C correctly. As stated above, rewards for 3C counter hit are really good. The other cool thing is that a 3C counter hit leaves the opponent in hitstun for 68 frames. If you trade with most normals using 3C, you might still have time to convert into a full combo.
      
    • If spaced correctly, can make certain reversals whiff.
      
      
      
    • 2B is a low attack with some benefits and a few flaws.
      
      • In terms of pressure, there isn't many gatlings from this move that will be gapless. Only 6A and 5B should be gapless.
        
      • Nonetheless, it is still a good starter that'll lead to extended combos. It may also replace or act similar as 2A but with a simply better potential. If you intend to frame trap, this could be a good way to do so.
        
      • Bad reversals might whiff against this move.
        
        
        
      • 6A is a great move both for the options that lead to it and the options that become available from it.
        
        • From 2B, this is a gapless string. From 2A, this is a 1 frame gap catching people jumping out.
          
        • From this move, you can jump cancel into rising j.D which is a tight frame gap/pressure reset
          
        • You can also go into 5B which will be gapless even if instant blocked
          
        • It also has great starter values and should combo into the 2 following pressure options. You could also hitconfirm it into something else if desired.
          
          
          
        • Some things to consider
          
          • Using 5D, if the opponent isn't in the corner, 5D will create distance. 5D creates the most pushback out of the whole array of normals you have. It'll leave you plus or neutral, but it'll reset the neutral game entirely as you cannot cancel it on block. Depending on your drill level this might change, there's a whole section dedicated to Amane's drill game down below.
            
          • Using Zettou to go back in, While this is the easiest pressure reset you can think of, it's also one that is far from guaranteed. Even if you use high blockstun moves, the ground version of Zettou prevents you from attacking for a little while (14-16 frames or so). This number and most blockstun values are equal. This means that you'll only have a slight advantage to press a button earlier than your opponent, but most characters have a head-invincible move. This means that they can just press the button and win everytime you'd do Zettou (236A) > j.B if you don't bait it. If you also count the frames, it's well above 20 frames to react which is entirely possible to do so. Since you don't want to prevent yourself from using this for a pressure reset, you'll have to add noise by varying attacks and reactable pressure resets. The more elements that can be reacted to, the harder it is to react to one of them in particular out of them all.
            
          • Using Zettou to get out, You can always choose to go into pressure from a safer distance. Using a backwards Zettou can be followed with j.C or j.6C to be more conservative about your pressure. If you don't want to deal with reversals yet continue to press buttons, this is excellent. It'll leave a large gap, but since you'll be at a good distance, it's more of a callout on them if they want to do something about it. This is really a slightly less threatening, but safer way to keep the offense going. Can also be helpful in matchups where it's riskier to pressure or be in the opponent's face.
            
          • Zettou fakeouts, Zettou can cancel into itself. This is important because if you react initially to a zettou cancel to commit to an action, he still has access to this option to avoid commitment. Again, this is part of the noise to make it harder to react to Amane's pressure resets. Also, I'm not sure this can work, but air Zettou has less of a frame window where you can't attack. I'm curious to see if you could do zettou into air zettou. If the move is considered a movement option, it could be done faster than an attack and reduce the time frame at which an attack could be performed out of the second zettou. The difference would be 7-9 frames to perform the air zettou. Since it sounds realistically possible, attacks could come out of ground zettou faster that way.
            
          • Hariken canceling, By using the empty hariken cancel (236D~D), you can recover faster from moves than by going through natural recovery. This is by no mean a gapless way to do a pressure reset, but it can help adding to the reactable noise and be an efficient way to keep going in close range pressure. It can also make most moves plus on block. More on this in the drive section.
            
            
            
          • Based on this model, you have plenty of ways to do frame traps, pressure resets and gapless pressure that can keep an opponent guessing as to how you can get out. A string like 2B > 6A > 5B > 3C is gapless unless instant blocked at some point. These normals are also all N starters which can lead to longer combos. You can also alter the string creatively to mix up when you choose to pressure reset or not. 2B > 6A > j.D, 2A > 6A > 5B > Hariken cancel, etc. At any point, the opponent will have to react to Zettou forward, backwards, zettou fake out or Hariken cancel.
            
          • In terms of rewards/combo routes, you have certain options
            
            • You can go into Raibu. If you are in the corner, this should be the desired option due to wallstick followups. Midscreen, it'll send the opponent flying away. Corner combo would be around 3k damage, midscreen should be 2k damage. Spending 50 meter can add a thousand damage.
              
            • If you don't want to go into Raibu, you can do a 5D ender. The stagger from 5D lets you cancel into Zettou for presumably a safe jump. You can do a hariken drill if they decide to block and followup with 6D. You can fake the hariken drill by doing a empty hariken into 5C. It should catch their attempt at jumping out. You can always call out with Gekiren, but that's a risk.
              
              
              

This is the distance from which you can bait a lot of stuff and will generally be safe. In terms of risk/rewards, both sides are lowered. Surprisingly enough, Amane's C moves are not as good as his close range ones in terms of starter value. This means shorter combos or limited routes even if they are more damaging than a 2A/5A starter. Even so, they'll create situations on hit that are desirable or will allow you to go back in through a simple reset.

• If you Zettou away from the opponent, the most obvious option should be j.C. There will be a large gap leaving them a lot of freedom, but you're still in a really good position to poke with j.C.
  
  • If it is blocked, you can zettou back in. The frame gap should be tighter than a ground zettou. It could even be tight enough to followup with j.B and have active frames before an opponent's anti-air head invincibility. Any instant blocking or reversals would beat this though.
    
  • On hit, the opponent would be left spinning and you could hit confirm through the same manner. By going in with j.B and it will combo for a standing ender into Raibu or 5D afterwards.
    
  • On counter-hit, it would lift the opponent and all you'd have to do is confirm into Gosei instead for a simple knockdown. You could also go for j.2B to land and follow with 6D for a reset. More info on that reset in the drill Level 1 section below.
    
  • If you don't want to go back in through Zettou, you can always recover faster from the j.C by using j.2B. It'll bring you back faster to a neutral state if you want to keep poking or just have all the options available.
    
  • Another possibility is late cancelling j.C into j.6C for a frame trap with presumably the same hit confirm as j.C. You'll even be closer to the ground at this point, so if the opponent just lets you do it, you'll get back to neutral even faster than with j.C. Since this needs to be done at a low height, you'll have to let larger gaps to get the right height.
    
    
    
  • But j.C after back Zettou would leave plenty of time to jump out or dash under. That's why you can also wait and see if the opponent does anything about it or just guess. Though guessing should be undesirable.
    
    • If he jumps, j.6C will be active in that very area. Using Zettou to go back in is even better as now they only have access to air options and you'll have good frame advantage. That's assuming he blocks, but you could react to him getting hit.
      
    • If he decides to dash under, you have another Zettou available and airdash available. Maybe that'll be the end of your pressure, but at least you are safe.
      
      
      
    • From 5B on the ground, you can transition into this same distance with 2C.
      
      • This would be a 5 frames gap, very few reversals should be able to deal with this considering the distance in between you and the opponent. Plus, 2C might catch opponent jumping outs. Since jump startup is minimum 4 frames, the 2C hitbox might be high enough to still catch opponents jumping out.
        
      • As for what can be followed from this move, you can either 3C, Zettou, Hariken cancel or go into 5D. The available gatling options become rather limited making a pressure reset attempt slightly more predictable.
        
      • On standing hit, 2C makes the opponent spin, using Zettou to go in with j.B will combo for something modest into Raibu or 5D ender.
        
      • On air hit (Catching jump out), it's possible to go in with Zettou and j.B or j.A to make it easier.
        
      • 2C crumple can lead to a 6D reset, more info on that in the drill level 1 section below.
        
        
        
      • On and on, whenever you choose to go into pressuring from a distance, you can hitconfirm and do pressure resets altogether. This turns his whole pressure game from a distance into something that requires you to react or be aware of your opponent. Whether it would be the large frame gaps or if your attack was blocked/ground hit/air hit/counter hit, it'll be important to spot these. But nonetheless, most of the risk involved is about returning to neutral by leaving some breathing room to the opponent.
        
        

3. Mixups

• Fabhop into j.C combo, Gosei ender
  
• Fabhop into j.C and j.6D combos (with drill level) for ridiculous damage
  
• Gekiren for easy damage, or RC for big damage
  
• All these combos offer at least 3k
  
• Hariken drill possibility into 6D (emergency vs. blue beat setup)
  
  

• Fabhop in > (j.B > j.A) or (j.D) is an obvious one. 5D > fabhop is a good setup while they tech from stagger. Blockstun values: j.B (16) > j.D (13) > j.A (11)
  
• Gosei knockdown followed by fabhop j.B will beat roll attempts and place you at grab range on neutral tech
  
• j.2B acts as a safe jump on corner knockdown (double gekiren combos, gosei) and beats rolls. Same as j.B above, only in the corner
  
• Any setup into hariken drill will give you time to get in grab range if you want (though a 6D should always be better unless you have level 3 drill already)
  
• Any C scrap hit will make the opponent crumple. Amane also has a lot of emergency tech situations. Running up and grab at an odd time like this. Such miscellaneous resets will make players act with a sense of reflex and lock themselves in block mode briefly. (Probably more so mid level players) If you can slip a grab on these odd setups, you're scaring them or making them think about grab at times they shouldn't be
  
  

• The obvious Throw reject miss is good and works wonders, but everyone has that. Doesn't deny you the option, but it doesn't make you stand out.
  
• If the opponent is expecting a grab attempt, you might want to slip by a j.2B.
  
  • If they try and tech it, you'll blow it up and get a good combo out of it that can lead to any airborne ender of your choice with a pretty good starting proration (P1, 90 - P2, 80).
    
  • If they press something like 2A, you might go through attacks with lower hitbox due to airborne state of j.2B.
    
  • If they block, the highest possible frame advantage is +8.
    
  • After blocked j.2B, you're free to fabhop left or right to start or continue your pressure with high frame advantage.
    
  • Quite a hefty startup, can be mashed out of
    

  [*]6B will also act similar, but leave a few more defensive options with the airdash available afterwards.

  [*]With 20 frames of blockstun and the ability to do as you please from an airborne state, you're really safe, just being less offensive about it if you will.

  [*]If it lands, the prospect of Fatal counter and a different combo route than j.2b opens up. For instance, 6B > aidash OD activation > Full combo is 5k and drill level 3

  [*]Really good to call out 2A attempts as the move is low invincible from frame 5.

  [*]Also throw invincible frame 1.

  [*]But you can still grab OS the 2 last options, whenever in grab range, you can use one fabhop to setup a j.2B cross up.

  [*]This will blow up anyone using grab OS if you do it correctly.

  [*]If you don't it's still super ambiguous how to block. It's hard to react which side it is even if you know it's coming.

  [*]Afterwards, you still have a fabhop to convert in the combo of your choice.

  [*]If it fails, fabhop away and extend pressure off j.2B's frame advantage. Heck, you could even do another ambiguous crossup twice in a row. To confirm from that, use OD. Since you'll be out of fabhop or ressources afterwards, you'll probably be giving up your turn to pressure the opponent.

  [*]The only downside is that this is probably the riskiest of your options as it'll leave the largest gap to mash out of the setup

  [*]An interesting property to consider if your drill level is at 3. If the opponent has no barrier, he cannot use Grab OS as crush trigger will come out instead I believe.

  [*]This means you don't have to bother with a crossup to beat the OS. The mixup can be narrowed down to Grab/j.2B/6B.

  [*]It's weird though because since they don't have barrier, you can get some chip in really easily. So placing yourself in a mixup scenario might not be worth it.

  [*]In the very precise situation where you would find yourself close to overheating your drill would be the only scenario I can think of to use this. Set yourself up with the frame advantage from the drill and try to open them up.

  [*]Another one is if you managed to force them to block a Hariken drill. With 4 seconds active, you can attempt the mixup. Unless you are mashed out of, you'll be safe afterwards.

  [*]Even though you have good rewards for doing something else, the rewards for having a combo on drill level 3 are just damn good too. Land a throw from this and you get a gratuitous 5K

  The goal is to scare the opponents into teching throws the easy way and forcing them to react to it instead. TRM, extending pressure via j.2B, resetting the neutral or pressure game in your favor or your pressure with 6B or attempting crossups on scared opponents. It's certainly not the scariest of mixups, but it's there. With so many ways to make your pressure safe, your opponent has a strong incentive to be patient and respect. A good thing is that the risk also comes when going for the mixups. It's not tight pressure or anything of the sort, but if they ever get respectful, all your options will be safe on block and will even reset the neutral in your favor or allow you to extend pressure to some extent.

  Another part of Amane's "mixups" can involve attempting to slip by a 6D on opponents that overly respect you. The startup is 40 frames, hella reactable and slow, can be simply jumped out of. But if the opponent is really content with blocking or is totally looking for the gap to reversal your pressure, using 6D still leaves you at a safe-ish distance from the anti-air or DPs your opponent might try to use. Since you can stop the move whenever you want, if they're not on the ball for spotting and punishing it ASAP, you might get away with it. Be advised though, this is probably a poor gimmick in the end and an all-in attempt to get rewards from pressure. The option remains available still.

  Gatling into 6D

  4. Too fabulous for mixups - Credits to TD for the feedback/suggestions for this part

  To balance out his limited mixup options, Amane can simply punish opponents for blocking too much by using his drill. His drive pressure's efficiency is heavily momentum oriented and rewarding. Every drill level increases chip damage, frame advantage/blockstun (+2 per level) on all his drive moves, damage, proration values. Because of that, it's important to gain and maintain this momentum to gain access some of your best tools. With this mindset, you may or may not want to use certain pressure options at different times depending on the goal you are trying to accomplish when it comes to drill management. Decisions that do not involve the drive will lower your momentum while the rest will either increase it or maintain it. Everything listed below is a decision that will have an impact on this momentum you'll need and how it will affect it as well as the potential rewards you get from it. It really helps to see tools differently depending on your drill level as properties change along as well as your potential goals.

  Drill level 1

  This should be fairly straight forward, your pressure and rewards for chip damage are the least efficient. Therefore, your main goal or incentive is to increase your drill level as there's no need to maintain what's already at it's lowest point.

  [*]5D - Chip/hit 54 (216 to 864) - This move doesn't really shine at this level as much as the rest, still has some uses. Since you can't cancel to specials on block, you'll end your turn to pressure if used in blockstrings. Not only that, but barrier will push you back really quickly and won't build much drill meter. If the opponent does not barrier, this should build half~ a drill meter, if barrier'd maybe a quarter~. At least, you are -1 on block so it isn't risky to end pressure with it but since you give up any pressure reset, it's kinda counter productive since you can't keep increasing your drill right after. The best way to use this is in the corner as you'll still keep a very good corner spacing to cover your opponent options of escaping meaning you're not entirely giving up on your pressure. On hit, this acts as a good ender for drill level as it'll give you meter and can grant access to potential drill setups.

  [*] If the opponent is standing, you can do a 50-50 into hariken drill. Opponent can jump out of it, but you can fake hariken stance into gekiren or 5C. You can also fabhop in after 5D to get in instead which will put you in a good situation for grabs.

  [*]In the corner airborne 5D ender can force certain characters to reset into hariken or get hit for rolling.

  [*]On counter hit, untech time is big enough to combo into Hariken drill for a guaranteed 6D. Especially good to whiff punish considering forward momentum of the move.

  [*]2D - Chip/hit 54 (216 to 864) - This move simply isn't a pressure tool and even if you were to combo into it, the combo potential and damage is not worth it over the rest of Amane's non-drill combos. It's even hard to say if there's any potential for it at level 1 yet.

  [*]6D - Chip/hit 75 - This is THE move for raising your drill levels as fast as you can as you can keep active until you overheat. Sadly though, with a 44 frames startup you'll need a plan to actually find a time to slip it by your opponents. Not only that, but certain characters have tools to get out of certain setups if not all of them. While there are a few ways to combo into 6D, a lot of the setups will be from the emergency tech possibility. A lot of setups will either force the opponent to emergency tech into a drill placed under them or delay tech and still get hit by a bluebeat drill. These are not guaranteed ways depending on the matchup or setup, but they're times worth trying depending on who you're playing and how reliably they could get out of it. As we get the game, this part here will probably list who can get out of said setups and what you might be able to do about it.

  Here are some combos into 6D:Here are some resets that will be very useful to increase drill level:

  [*]5D (Counter hit) > Hariken drill > 6D

  [*]3C (Counter hit) > Hariken drill > 6D

  [*]5C (Counter hit) > 6D

  [*]Gosei > Rapid cancel (First few hits or so) > 6D - 50 meter

  [*]Seijuu super > Rapid cancel (with precise timing to avoid overheat) > Hariken (Optional) > 6D - 100 meter (Video linked shows on level 2, works on 1 if you wondered)

  [*]Goukai super > Rapid cancel > 80~% screen carry by using fabhop > 6D - 100 meter (OD is not needed and every value of the super besides proration is exactly the same, you need to carry long enough for drill cooldown to be over)

  Here are some of the resets into 6D/Hariken to help you play the drill game

  [*]5B > 5D(N) > 236D~B > 6D - 5D staggers and the gap for this to connect is about 20 frames. Meaning, if the opponent knows they can jump and/or move out of the way. Easily. If they don't recover, it'll combo blue beat. From 5D, you can command hop forward with 236A > j.B to make them block and it should be a safe jump as well allowing you to keep some offense going and catch them attempting to get out of the drill reset attempt.

  [*]6C (1) > 236D~D > 5B (1) > 6D/Hariken - This setup covers emergency tech, no tech, delayed forward roll. If done midscreen, the opponent can delay a back roll to avoid the attack, you still build your drill in the process. If the opponent is hit more than once or the hitstun decay becomes too strong, they'll be able to air tech.

  [*]2C (2) > Crumple reset > 6D - This setup will cover every tech attempt if the spacing is proper. The spin state allows 6D to become active before the opponents even has the chance to roll. It will hit blue beat though. If they tech right away, the tech animation still lets 6D become active. If they were hit from such a distance, they can tech right away and they'll wake up outside of 6D's range and thus it won't connect.

  [*]j.C (Counter hit) > j.2B > 6D - This one is pretty gimmicky. It can cover all recovery options, but not at the same time. If you are closer to the opponent, it'll cover back rolls. If you are further from them, it'll cover forward rolls. The problem is having it stable. If you do 2 hits on j.C, they'll be closer to you thus affecting which recovery options beat it, but I've found the whole setup to be pretty sloppy considering the required spacing is more precise and hit confirming it is hard to react. But since it'll happen much less often, the opponent is less likely to know about it.

  [*](Opponent in juggle state + corner) 5D > Hariken drill A - The idea here is to keep 5D active until you get the right spacing. If you do it right, the drill will catch forward roll, force them to block it on wakeup and allow you to connect 6D without moving. If you let go of it too close and they respect, you're most likely in burst and counter assault range. If they don't respect, they get out of it with a forward roll. If the hitstun decay was too strong, they might air tech before touching the ground. If you let go of 5D too far from them, the drill will cover rolls, but they won't be forced to block it on wakeup. Just react to what's happening and you should be good to cover your opponent's options.. For instance, if they rolled you can convert into a combo with j.2B after the drill that could lead to the same 5D corner ender.

  [*]At the right spacing near the corner, Raibu (236C) can wallstick the opponent and leave you in 6D range. If you do 236C > Wall stick > 6D correctly, it'll cover ground recovery options.

  [*]3C > Hariken A - At the proper spacing, this can cover back roll attempts and emergency techs, loses to everything else.

  [*]Reset from crush trigger for 25 meter - Loses to forward roll, beats every other tech option.

  [*]Hariken setups weakness versus 6D

  [*]Hariken setups are 2 frames slower than 6D due to extra startup.

  [*]Hariken drills have a hurtbox, it's possible for an opponent to reversal and rapid after hitting the drill to get out.

  [*]Hariken drills won't put Amane in hitstop, this is especially against Bang's drives and teleport attempts since he'll be locked in hitstop while Amane does whatever he wants.

  [*]General weaknesses

  [*]Rush invincible supers can beat it. Ragna's carnage scissors is a good example or Amane's Seijyuu.

  [*]Hakumen can D his way through these resets to avoid chip and build meter. You still get level 3 drill

  [*]Rachel can use wind tech

  [*]Some backdashes

  [*]Still need to get a full list of this

  [*]j.D - Chip/hit 39 (156 to 624) - This move also shines here as it can actually be used to both reliably increase your drill level and pressure as well. j.D can be maintained active longer on level 1 and stays active for up to 44 frames and slightly more blockstun than j.A. This leads to slightly different possible ways to use this move:

  [*]You can cancel some jump normal when you're going in with Zettou. j.B > j.D (gapless) is possible, j.B > j.2C (2 frame gap) > j.D - Builds really little drill meter, can actually help maintaining it if used that way.

  [*]If you jump instant j.D, it hits low enough to catch people crouching and remains active long enough for you to land. Hard to say how large the gap would be after this, but there should be one. - Builds half a drill meter.

  [*]You can use j.D as a combo ender on some combos as a tech trap for neutral tech. You followup with 6A > 5B > hitconfirm 5C. If they tech and don't hold back, you get a combo. If they tech and block, barrier will create enough pushback for you to do 6A > 5B > 2C to start pressure. If they late tech and the combo bluebeats, I'm not too sure of the options available. 6A > 5B will not lead to a lot on a combo that's been going on for too long since they'll most likely tech. - This builds half a drill meter and removes ground reversal options on wakeup.

  [*]j.6D - Chip/hit 66 (264 to 1056) - Much like 2D, this is more of a combo tool and the combo potential at level 1 is not really good compared to non drill combos.

  [*]Hariken (stance) - While the stance is a good way to increase your drill level or maintain it at neutral, this is not really something to shine in pressure at level 1. It has some stuff worth understanding, but it'll better be discussed in the level 3 section of the drill. Empty hariken cancels will help maintaining slightly your current drill level, but not enough to really outweigh his other tools to raise your drill level.

  [*]Hariken (Drill) - The drill is also something with more practical uses in the neutral aspect and at higher drill levels. Though it has one important use and that is to cover for 6D that will actually raise your drill level to 3. Placing a drill will keep the drill level where it currently is for it's duration. Level 1 duration is 1.5 second, level 2 is 2 seconds and level 3 is active for 4 seconds to put this in perspective. This isn't something you can rely on during pressure, but you can rely on it in certain knockdown setups as listed under 6D just above.

  [*]Seijyuu - Even though the super overheats your drill meter, you can Rapid cancel at the right timing to avoid the overheat and combo into 6D

  [*]Goukai - Chip/hit 40 - This resets your drill level, but it still does good damage and if you Rapid cancel and carry full screen, you can link in 6D again

  [*]Overdrive - While obviously overdrive will raise and maintain your drill level at 3 throughout it's duration, you can use it to convert scrap hits in full level 3 drill combos. I feel it's a big part of his Overdrive design. It allows to simultaneously increase direct damage done from a scrap hit while getting the same knockdown and guaranteed drill level 3. Using your drive moves in OD raise your drill meter much times faster than the regular version. This means that combos into 2D will suddenly become the level 3 damaging combos for instance. Here's some examples :

  [*]6B fatal > Full overdrive into 5K

  [*]Allowing hitconfirms on j.2B if you are out of command dashes by doing j.2B > OD > (slight delay to fall down a bit) > j.2B > land > combo

  Drill level 2

  At the current time, it's unclear what might be your goal at this level. This is all from observation, but I doubt you want to stay in drill level 2 if you have the possibility to do so. For instance, try to get to level 3 by surrendering pressure with 5D if I'm close enough. The thought process behind it is that while some of your drill efficiency is decent in some regards, you get more or less a watered down version of what's good in either level 1 drill and level 3. Essentially, you're a jack of all trades that doesn't get the most efficient potential out of your drive moves in terms of pressure, rewards and management. You do get +2 frame advantage on every drill normal and some increased damage, chip and proration which is nice nonetheless.

  [*]5D - Chip/hit 93 (372 to 1488) - This is pretty much the same thing as level 1 but with the rewards listed above. Plus on block, more damage, same drill level gain. It's also active for 6 extra frames (25%), same number of hits. What this changes is that while the move is active your drill level has an increase rate. Being active for longer means a slight increase in drill level. Does nearly twice the chip damage. There's also a lot less pushback for the same amount of hits. To note, this is similar on his other drive moves as well besides 6D. With 5D giving forward momentum, this means you'll most likely be allowed to build more drill meter and inflict extra chip damage. Since you're +1, you are a 100% safe after it, but the same downside as level 1 is still there. You surrender the move's efficiency for frame advantage or you surrender part of your capacity to keep up the pressure after creating distance since it can't be cancelled on block. Though that may be an ok decision considering you won't need as much efforts raising drill to level 3 with this.

  [*]2D - Chip/hit 93 (372 to 1488) - Much like level 1's description of the move, not showing signs of being really useful in pressure or combos. One thing that is possible (and might even be on level 1) is that it is possible to combo 2D into Gekiren. This gives you a similar knockdown as Gosei and will build part of your drill meter. Really easy combo route. Another combo route that opens up would be 2D > Zettou backwards > j.6C > whatever.

  [*]6D - Chip/hit 150 - Nothing special to note here. It does more chip at this level but everything else works like the level 1 version of the move

  [*]j.D - Chip/hit 67 (268 to 1072) - This move has one different property that might reduce it's efficiency in pressure. While you get an increase in chip damage, you don't get an increase on blockstun and you get a decrease in active frames. Every active frame at level 1 lasts 3 frames while they last 2 frames on level 2. Add everything up, and this move is now active for 30 frames in stead of 44 like level 1. Scenarios where you would use more than 30 active frames of j.D should leave a larger gap after the use of it. I suspect this would only affect jumping and holding D until you land. Other thing that might be worth mentioning is a slight increase on air hit hitstun which could make the move more helpful at the end of air combos before you go into gosei knockdown to get a slight increase on drill level.

  [*]j.6D - Chip/hit 114 (456 to 1824) - Still unknown whether or not the combo potential is good at this level. More hitstun on air hits, but nothing known or displayed.

  [*]Hariken (stance) - This is the same as level 1.

  [*]Hariken (drill) - This is like level 1, but lasts 0.5 extra seconds (30 frames). Helps to maintain your drill level at 2.

  [*]Seijyuu - Possible combo followup with 3C at this level.

  [*]Goukai - Chip/hit 80 - This super barely changes at all throughout versions. Better proration and better chip damage. Taller hitboxes. That's it.

  [*]Overdrive - Nothing particular about overdrive on level 2 that changes compared to level 1.

  Drill level 3

  This is THE best thing this character has to offer. Your pressure and rewards are completely nuts. There are some super easy damaging combos that are better than your non-drill level 3 combos. On block, your frame advantage is even better. Last but not least, this is when you can compensate for lack of a solid mixup game as you punish opponents for blocking in the first place. Either you'll do loads of chip damage or you'll drain your opponent's barrier which is a win for you in both your pressure game and the neutral game. As far as drill management goes, this is a different mindset than level 1 or 2 as you want to maintain your level rather than increasing it. I find level 3 to be the most flexible aspect of your pressure all the tools are available. Sure you lose some properties that were cool on previous drill level 1, but there's a lot of freedom and weight as to what you do depending on the situation. One important thing to note is that

  5. Videos

  Iwao vs. Zero (rachel) - About 40 minutes of good pressure by Iwao. Either Rachel has little options to deal with Amane's stagger pressure or Zero is being very respectful. In any case, Iwao is putting the work in terms of pressure only. He doesn't overextend often into mixups attempts, but his pressure is literally never ending.

  Example of a match where the barrier management was poor and ended up being one of the main reasons Amane won.

  6. Closure

  It's late at the original time of posting this. I just got done with it, there might be a lot of flaws or stuff to improve upon. Please do share the feedback as I'd love for this to become a reference. It's not that I want credits, I just feel it's really gonna help a lot of people understand better the risk and rewards of your options available.

  As of august 3rd, a lot of the info posted here was re-read through few times and while it can still be improved, a lot of it has been revised to prevent misinformation, remove gimmicks and rephrase certain parts for comprehension.

[*]5D - Chip/hit 162 (648 to 2268) - This move has so much going for itself. It shines especially in it's efficiency to do chip damage. Reason for that is that the combo potential doesn't expand on standing opponents compared to other drill levels. If they're airborne, you probably won't use this for it's combo potential. You do get increased damage on said combos, just not an different combo route or ender. In terms of chip damage, not only your reward is high, but it's also a very efficient way to keep the pressure going. Same behavior as described in drill level one or two. If you keep it active until it ends, you give up pressure for damage. This will also cause a significant increase in drill meter. You want to avoid overheat, so it's best to judge whether or not you can afford to keep this normal active for a longer duration. If you just want to maintain your drill level, you can always do small bursts of damage by releasing the button early. Since you are +3 on block and will be left close to the opponent, it's really easy to keep pressure going. Also, this should maintain your drill level well and allow you to dish out damage more often even if it's not the most damaging it can be. How you choose to use chip damage through 5D may also be matchup dependent. Here's a simple example. Since 5B doesn't seem to have a large hurtbox, you can release your drill when you have the correct spacing to cover the other characters' options such as reversals. It doesn't have to be 5B, but it's a good normal as it's fast enough to catch mashing at the correct spacing. Last, there's the opponent's defensive options that you should be aware of. The first one would be barrier but I'll cover it in detail down below. If your opponent can barrier, he can deny you the chip damage. Let's keep it at that for now. The second one is counter assault. You have 2 ways to deal with this. First one is situational, but since Amane's arm retracts entirely when releasing the button, you can make a counter assault whiff. This is probably dependent a lot on the character's counter assault, spacing, ressources available and timing. Second one is by just using a rapid cancel for 50 meter as this is the only possible cancel from a blocked 5D. Kinda sucks, but there's an another reason to rapid when the opponent would be likely to counter assault. If they don't have barrier, they're likely to use it at that time as your damage would be guaranteed and it's their last option other than using burst which seems like too much. You'd want to rapid in that scenario anyway simply because your damage is guaranteed. 2 5D blocked at level 3 with no barrier is roughly 4.5k damage. If you think the player is thinking about it, just make it a frame trap and block when you think he'll do it. Though understand that you'll need sufficient drill level to do two 5D in a row for full damage to avoid overheat or spend meter uselessly.

[*]2D - Chip/hit 162 (648 to 2268) - Every combo route previously mentionned from 2D is available as the air hitstun is at it's highest value. This means that all combos will be easier to perform and more damaging. There's the obvious 2D > Zettou > j.6D for good and easy damage that will break 4k. Though be warned that using this implies raising your drill level a lot because you'll be using your drill twice in a row. Hold it down for as long as needed without overheating. You can sort of see a trend in terms of drill maintenance. Keep it low enough to afford doing 2 consecutive drill moves in a row without overheating if necessary, but keep it high enough to stay at level 3.

[*]6D - Chip/hit 225 - Although the most damaging normal in terms of chip damage, it doesn't really serve much at this level simply because the drill level gain is even faster than usual so you'll just drastically increase your drill level by using this move. Though if for some reason you can use it to kill, you can probably afford to go all out with it since it's so efficient.

[*]j.D - Chip/hit 117 (468 to 1638) - This move loses it's appeal a lot compared to his other normals. Unlike other normals, this one doesn't increase frame advantage since the blockstun values remain the same. Pair that up with 14 active frames compared to the 44 active frames at level 1 and you get a move that can't be used the same way at all. You can't do a j.D as soon as leaving the ground and have it stay active until you land. You can still cancel into it during for gap less air blockstrings as your are about to land, but that's about it in pressure. It will help maintain slightly your drill level and do some chip damage in the process without the commitment 5D would require. As for combos, it's far from being as efficient as the rest of his normals. Sure you gain some damage and extra air histun, but not enough to turn it into something else. You can use it before going into Gosei, but even that you could do at level 1 and the prorated damage is not impressive even with the increase.

[*]j.6D - Chip/hit 198 (792 to 2772) - Most damaging normal available in the arsenal. Using it during combos at this point is also guaranteed to have a followup that leads to a knockdown. Although the obvious 2D > Zettou > j.6D combo works, you can do an alternate version that lets j.6D hit first and therefore be less prorated. All drive moves have a strong proration during combos which tone down their damage a lot (60% proration). Therefore if you manage to combo as early as possible into your drill moves, you are most likely to maximize the damage. Not only that, but if you use j.6D before 2D, you will increase the damage your most damaging normal will do. An easy way to do that is at the same time you'd normally go into 2D and that would be 6C. Instead of doing 6C(1) > Empty Hariken cancel > 2D > Zettou > j.6D, you can do 6C(2) > Zettou backwards > j.B > j.6D (land) > 6C(1) > Empty hariken cancel > 2D >Whatever. If you want to make it burst safe or do more damage, you can go into goukai instead of 2D though that'll overheat.

[*]Hariken (stance) - Since the rate at which the drill level increase is higher, using this move like you'd normally would in pressure (cancel normals into empty hariken followup) will have a slightly more significant impact on maintaining the drill level where it's currently at. There's more to say about why you would use this instead of going for chip damage pressure that you currently have access to, but it'll best be covered at the end of this section.

[*]Hariken (drill) - This move gets pretty fancy at this level. The chip damage is increased even though it certainly won't be a very big and reliable source of damage. What's cool is the fact that the hitbox reaches higher and that it is active for 4 seconds. If you ever manage to get one out, it'll maintain perfectly your drill level for 4 seconds. If an opponent ends up blocking it, they are stuck that way for a long time leaving you with plenty of time to do whatever you feel like. The best I've seen was a "guard crush" using crush trigger. For 75 meter, you have time to charge your crush trigger which drains a lot of barrier if blocked. If you rapid it, you can do a gapless string into 5D and deal somewhat guaranteed damage. Works best if your opponent is caught airborne as they'll block using barrier and they won't be able to counter assault. If the opponent gets hit, you can do j.2B until the drill becomes inactive and followup with a simple combo. One good thing to note is that the drill has pretty good proration.

[*]Seijyuu - Possible combo followup into 6C. There's a slight increase of damage but it's still fairly low. 1400 extra compared to level 1.

[*]Goukai - Chip/hit 120 - Again, no increased damage but a slight increase in proration and chip damage. Taller hitboxes as well.

[*]Overdrive - Keeping in mind that Amane's overdrive will try as much as possible to bring drill level to exactly 3, works slightly differently as it will noticeably try to bring drill level back to 3. Your normals and specials will still increase the drill level, just noticeably less. Even after an attack, the rate at which your gauge lowers will really help to prevent overheat. Not only this means you can use drills with no regards to management, but this also opens up potential tricks worth mentionning even if they're not directly tied to pressure. 6D can be held for much longer. It can be worth spending the overdrive for it because it allows to use 6D, the most damaging normal, for longer than usual. On a full screen counter or punish, 5C (CH) > Overdrive > 6D is 5.5k damage. If it's not counter hit, you will only get a reset into 6D. Provided the opponent has no reversals, this almost drains all their barrier. It does imply overheating or being really close to it, but since it might cover every option your opponent has it good to know your have the option. Another notable aspect of it is the damage increase to Seijyuu super. If you make abstraction of proration, it adds 2.4k to a super that already does 3.1k and has a simple followup for knockdown. It's simple damage that can seal the deal.

[*]Barrier Draining/Management - One important tool every opponent has against Amane's chip threat is their barrier. A full gauge of barrier can absorb about 3 times a fully held 5D at level 3. Logically you'd want to to barrier to avoid chip damage and that's a thing to be exploited in your pressure game. Your regular pressure doesn't go away and now your opponent has a stronger incentive to use barrier. Your regular pressure on opponents who barriers works better because Amane can pressure reset while nullifying extra pushback by using Zettou. If they barrier, it only makes your pressure reset a tighter frame gap as well as drain their barrier gauge faster. You can pay attention to your opponent's tendencies regarding barrier and expose him for it. What makes this especially good is the 5D's startup time. At 17 frames, it's hard to react to 5D and barrier only when the chip damage is being dealt. It's even harder to be ready to react to pressure resets at the same time or other stuff such as grab attempts. You can make the opponent waste a lot of barrier that way, make them think about more than one action, increase the efficiency of your pressure game in general. Another interesting aspect that helps maintaining your drill level is that hitstop freezes your drill gauge. It's not much, but if you pair that up with everything else that gives slight increases of drill gauge, you end up with solid maintenance of that resource. A pressure reset like 5B > 3C > Zettou > j.B > j.D is enough to keep the gauge where it is. One small last detail is that if the opponent has to block mid air, he has to use barrier as Amane can do chain attacks that both start pressure or hitconfirm into full combo. An example of this is j.A x N > 5B > 2C or 6A > 5B > 5C.